What Should I Use to Edit My Movie?

In our lab we have three main pieces of video editing software: iMovie, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. Each one has its own strengths.

iMovie for OSX

iMovie is bundled for free as part of OSX. For free software, it’s very impressive. It has a simple interface. It’s capable of keying (green screen), video and sound editing, and a lot more. However, if you are trying to edit a more complex video, you will eventually be frustrated by its limitations. I only use iMovie for very simple editing. I strongly encourage you to use one of the other programs listed here if they are available.

Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro is a full featured, professional video editing program. Many television shows are edited with Premiere Pro. It’s very powerful, and less straightforward than iMovie. This is my standard editing software.

After Effects

After Effects is a specialized editor. You can easily edit an entire movie with it, but that’s easier to do in Premiere. Where After Effects is most use is (surprise!) adding effects to footage. You will probably edit most of your movie with Premiere, and import effects scenes into After Effects.

Other Editors

You may be creating your work at home, and you might not have any of this software on your devices. Some versions of Windows have movie making software. There are other video editing programs I didn’t list. There are other operating systems I didn’t mention. That’s okay. You can edit with what you have. I won’t be able to help you very much, but if you’re comfortable with a piece of software, use it!

The most important thing is that you must be able to turn in your work in a form that I can read and is acceptable for broadcast.

Need Help?

I will show you how this software works, and I will give you personal assistance when I am available, but don’t rely on me for every step of learning about these programs. Experiment! Ask other learners! When I can’t figure things out, I go to youtube. There are free tutorials for almost any trick you might want to try.